Dick Allen

If taking $58 million to play baseball for 4 years is a horrible decision, count me as a guy who would like to make horrible decisions.

Sale making it to the 8th was a longshot after the 1st, but he screwed up, he gave up a run.

Hahn needs to do something to shake this up. Even if it's just finding someone to platoon with Flowers. Its time to do something Tricky Ricky.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 6, 2013 -> 03:16 PM) Yeah, Robin should have carried a physics textbook out with him to argue. That would have swayed the umpires over. Obviously you are being a smartass, but balls down the line have some spin on them, they almost always have at least a little hook or slice to them, and those hooks and slices are going to be going into foul territory, not fair. All you can argue is to have them look at a replay. Once they do that, there is nothing you can do.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 6, 2013 -> 03:09 PM) Like Hawk said it hit fair and bounced back onto the field fair so how can it be foul ? I'm not watching, but unless the wind is 70 mph, I don't see how you can hit the ball down the line foul and have it land behind the pole fair. I think it might be physically impossible.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ May 6, 2013 -> 03:04 PM) Such a huge call. This is 2013, need better camera angles than that haha. Especially since replay is so limited.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 6, 2013 -> 03:02 PM) How hard would it be to get two cameras, strap them onto the foul poles, and point them straight up? Or have cameras perfectly positioned for the calls down both lines. They don't have to be tied into the TV broadcast. You would think since this is the part they do use replay, they would have things positioned perfectly.

Do they do this off the TV feeds or do they have their own cameras at the park for these calls?

If it's too close to call they will wind up calling it what they called it on the field and Hawk may have a meltdown.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:53 PM) That kinda says it all. That is one mighty sad stat! They only have 3 guys in the line up with at least a .700 OPS, and until Gillaspie got that hit, no one was at .800.

Considering the White Sox rarely get on base or score runs, and for the most part, their pitching has been pretty good this year, why do most of their games take so long to play? Today is going at a decent clip.

Gillespie is the only guy currently in the White Sox line up with an OBP over .325.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 6, 2013 -> 12:49 PM) You can not like Bernstein all you want, but he nailed it here: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/05/05/ber...ire-bobby-hull/ I agree with him there.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) That's why we need to acquire players that have already been developed by other organizations (ie: Quentin) I know but that has been just as bad. Molina, Castro, Lillibridge, Flowers, Marquez, Nunez...Gillaspie has been really good so far, hopefully it lasts, but these types of acquisitions aren't setting you up for future success.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:21 PM) I don't believe Bell has done a very good job with the farm system. I really don't know what he's done after his playing career that warrants all the praise he gets. When he was managing, the teams he managed were better the year he took over managing and also improved the season after he left. He gets a lot of credit for the White Sox minor leaguers and they haven't developed an impact bat since he's been around. And it seems when they do bring up players, not a whole heck of a lot of them seem to know what they are doing all the time. It is a head scratcher trying to find some accomplishment where he can hang his hat. He must be able to talk a good game because he's pulled the wool over a few teams' eyes.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:18 PM) With Buddy calling the shots, you mean? Hahn, KW, Buddy...they are all there. Until it's proven otherwise, developing every day players is something they shown to be a major weakness.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:15 PM) Why is RIOS yelling something at our dugout? Maybe someone asked him for an autograph.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:07 PM) When has it happened with a Sox player we drafted and "developed"? We have been told Viciedo is what he is, as is Beckham. Both are potentially the two best offensive players the Sox have produced in years. (Which isn't saying much obviously)I am not saying it's definitely going to happen, but it can. I still can't believe people want the Sox to totally rebuild considering the players they have drafted and not developed and how prospects like Molina and Castro and Lillibridge, and the next Jon Garland, Jeff Marquez have turned out. Just to mention a few. Buddy Bell recommended Teahan and Keppinger and said Mitchell was a different player this spring. He gets promoted. A bigger voice. A rebuild would be a disaster.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:00 PM) You know it's bad when Wise is your most dangerous hitter. 7 for his last 14. Why is it bad when a guy who is 7 for 14 is your most dangerous hitter? Who cares who it is? It would be sad if a guy who was 2 for 14 was your most dangerous hitter.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:57 PM) Yeah, I couldn't remember. I thought that he was on the outs for awhile. They sent him to AAA as a 26 year old with about 1700 plate appearances in the majors. He did well and came back as a 27 year old really improved, something we have been taught at Soxtalk never happens.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) Alex Gordon could've been had pretty easily a few years ago, right? Before they moved him to left? I don't think so. They screwed around with him, but supposedly he wasn't to be had cheaply.

Keppinger can't be this bad. I wasn't very familiar with him, but words like "scrappy" were used to describe him. He's seems very lackadaisical to me. He was Hahn's big move, and bust is the only word to describe him at this point.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) Konerko now 4/29 lifetime against Shields but no choice but to play him with our current roster. If nothing else, you'd think Konerko would take a couple of pitches and try to gave Chris Sale more of a breather, even if he's unlikely to hit Shields. Gillaspie now down into the .270's. (Check that, .286) Ramirez 0 for the series so far. Team average at .227. I read the other day the Washington Nationals had a .227 team average if you took away Harper's numbers, so maybe the Sox are one star away.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:26 PM) Fathom said it earlier but the disparity on the talent on these two teams is amazing. Sox have no chance in Kauffman this year. p.s. Sale's velocity sucks. What is going on?? CSINAA

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 10:52 AM) It's indisputable the lack of talent has to be laid at the feet of KW and Reinsdorf for supporting him. Hahn bears some responsibility for overpaying Keppinger, but he didn't have money or talent to go out and trade for Chase Headley, did he? And he did a decent job of finding a decent prospect in Gillaspie who's at least held the season from getting totally out of control...for now. That said, many others, and Fathom has been even more prominent, have noticed strategic mismanagement and in-game decision making that's become worrisome and is showing no signs of improvement. We knew there would be a learning curve, that this was "on the job." My biggest fear is that Ventura took the job out of loyalty to JR and his heart is not 100% into it...to many, he still represents that symbol of Sox greatness of the recent past. He was such a popular player, fans won't start to blame him until next year. KW and JR knew exactly what they were doing. It took about five years for the Ozzie Show to wear thin, too, and it might never have if the team wasn't so disappointing that there was no choice but to blame the manager. Maybe Ventura was perfect for the transition period "After Ozzie" but nobody's quite so sure if he is the man to lead this team out of the wilderness, either. And Dick, you've followed baseball long enough to know there's more than one person responsible. You defended Greg Walker to the end, and you might have been right about that, but it's impossible to blame this currrent malaise of a situation we're in on just ONE person, not 100%. It's much more nuanced that that, and everyone knows it. So Robin Ventura a guy who played about 15 years in the majors knows less about baseball strategy than message board posters, many of whom haven't played organized baseball since they were about 10? If the Sox are horrible this year, you are right, it will fall on a bunch of people. Not one, not 2 or 3. Most of it is on players. If a guy misses a cutoff man, as much as everyone wants to blame the manager, it's not his fault, it's the OF's fault. If a guy strikes out, it's not the hitting coach's fault. I read an article last year about how much parents pay to have their kids play for "elite" traveling clubs in various sports. They get promised the world, with the greatest coaching available, and a lot of parents buy into it. It was written by a former coach. When their kids didn't get to be players that would be 1st round picks or go to college for free, the parents complain. The coach said don't waste your money on these things. There's a 99.9% chance your kid will be an average player. Coaches can't make average talents great ones. It's the same way with professional sports. Sure, coaches can make a difference, but not the difference many people think. Where are Rudy Jaramillo and Leo Mazzone right now?